Olympic curlers: Fitter than you think

Curling doesn’t appear to be a sport of much physical demand. Athletes move very little, don’t need to pick up anything particularly heavy, nor is anything especially explosive. Their movements are eased by the fact that they’re gliding or kneeling across the ice, though perhaps the sweeping could be a bit of an arm workout.

Aside from that, though, curling is not exactly a calorie burner.

And yet, many of the curlers in this year’s Olympic Games are undoubtedly very fit individuals. The Russian women’s team has turned heads, while Aleksandr Krushelnitckii may be more well known at this point for his biceps as his bronze medal.

Curlers aren’t the first athletes to remain exceptionally fit while playing a sport that doesn’t require a tremendous amount of physical exertion. Kickers and punters in the NFL have clearly been spending more time in the weight room (thank Steve Weatherford for that). Heck, even the refs are getting more muscular.